Our Patrons & Founders

Our Patrons & Founders

St Augustine

St Augustine became a priest, a bishop, a famous Catholic writer, founder of religious priests, and one of the greatest saints that ever lived. St. Augustine practiced great poverty and supported the poor. His feast day is August 28th.

Click here for more information on St AugustineClick here for the history of St Augustine's Church Balmain

St Joseph

St Joseph was the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus. He was a carpenter. We celebrate two feast days for Joseph: March 19 for Joseph the Husband of Mary and May 1 for Joseph the Worker. March 19 has been the most commonly celebrated feast day for Joseph.

Click here for more information on St JosephClick here for the history of St Joseph's Church Rozelle

Mary Help of Christians

The feast day to Mary Help of Christians has been celebrated in Australia since 1844 but the history to this day dates back to the start of the 1800's. The early church in Australia had a special reason for turning to Mary as there were no priests in the colony in its early days and Mass was not allowed except for one brief year until 1820.

It was largely the Rosary in those early days that kept the faith alive. Catholic Australia remained faithful to Mary and was the first nation to choose her under the title Help of Christians. St Mary's Cathedral was dedicated in her honour by the Irish pioneer priest, Fr John Therry, who arrived in Sydney in 1820 and assumed responsibility for the planning and initial construction of the Cathedral.

When Australia became the first country to have Mary Help of Christians as Patroness, it became the first country to have a mother-cathedral under the same title. This feast day is celebrated on 24 May.

Click here for more information on MHOCClick here to visit St Mary's Cathedral

St Mary of the Cross Mackillop

Monday August 8 marks the feast of Mary MacKillop and Australia's first Saint. The co-founder of the Josephites, the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, she was a tireless advocate of education and schools.

At just 24 she established a school for children of the poor and underprivileged in Penola, SA, and under her guidance, her order went on to found schools not only across SA but also in Victoria, NSW and eventually New Zealand.

The Congregation of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan of the Order of Saint Benedict is the first Australian ‘home grown’ congregation of Catholic religious women. Archbishop John Bede Polding, an English Benedictine monk and Australia’s first bishop, founded the congregation in Sydney in 1857.

Known affectionately as the Good Sams, the congregation and the wider Good Sam family continue to draw inspiration from the rich wisdom of Benedictine spirituality and the much-loved parable of the Good Samaritan.

We become our true selves and best selves when we remember, says Benedict, to love God and neighbour – both the neighbour beyond the community and the often more demanding neighbour at home.

The Good Sams are the founding order of both our original schools, St Joseph's Rozelle and St Augustine's Balmain.